Hi, can anyone advise best times of year for diving in Los and where are some good spots for learning and progressing beyond.

Not interested in the tourist meccas of Pattaya, Samui or Phuket, but more better spots as will be for family trip.

Plenty of family areas in Phuket and Samui. No diving in Samui to speak of though. Nearest diving to Samui is off of Koh Tao. Tao is considered a cheap place to get certified, but here is a reason for that. It's still the wild west. I guarantee your instructor will not be legal, i.e. have a business visa or work permit. Tao has larger classes and often brand new instructors when compared to Phuket. And in my biased opinion, Tao diving which is in the Gulf of Thailand, cannot hold a candle to that in the Andaman Sea around Phuket.

Phuket is the geographic size of Singapore but with 1/6 the people. Phuket as a whole cannot be referred to as a "tourist mecca", but the beach areas can be, as that is where most the hotels are, and most are family friendly. If you want to stay out of the tourist mecca's then stay in one of the less populated beach area's like Rawai, Nai Harn, Kamala, Surin, or Bang Tao.

The day trip diving accessible year round on Phuket is world class: Shark Point, King Cruiser, Koh Doc Mai, Anemone Reef, and several sites around the Phi Phi Islands. Koh Raya Yai is an island to the south which has sheltered bays on every side so there is always a calm bay to learn in. This is where most dive schools in Phuket take there students especially now that we are getting into monsoon season and diving off the west coast beaches is less and less of an option. The similans are diveable November through mid May, after which the winds shift and monsoon season starts. Most of the diving in the Similans is done off liveaboards but daytrips by speedboat are also an option. The Similans have been suffering from a lack of sharks and manta's during the last few years, as illegal fishing goes on in the marine parks unchecked as the rangers get paid a lot of money by the fishing fleets to look the other way. Although one of our customers saw a whale shark on Koh Bon on one of the last trips of the season last week. Often the only chance for divers to see sharks and Manta's on the Similans is at the peir at Taplimu where they can be seen getting offloaded by the fishing boats as divers board the dive boats.

Thanks.

So do you have a dive company?

Thanks.

So do you have a dive company?

Yes. You can guess where.

Thanks.

 

So do you have a dive company?

 

Yes. You can guess where.

And I have heard its a good company with a good reputation. I dont know Joe personally, and I am not in the dive industry myself. But i have met his business partner Rick and he is a nice bloke. Me and Joe dont always agree on everything in the Thaivisa Forum. But his diving info is spot on, his posts regarding diving around Phuket are accurate and up to date. I enjoy reading his posts as they are a wealth of information. Also I can see his heart is in diving as he posts on environmental issues but just doesnt focus on the negatives.